Thursday, September 22, 2016

views of utopia

at the bainbridge performing arts
                                    200 madison avenue north,   
                                           bainbridge island wa
september 25 through october 2016
opening october 7th 5-7pm

The painter had only a few collectors and one of them, perhaps hoping to broaden his audience  sent word of him to a picture shop owner. The painter had long known  about the shop but never seeing anything similar to his own work there, he gave it little or no thought, perhaps a grunt or two but felt that he should now pay a visit. The shop owner remembered him from when he had shown in a nearby gallery, now gone and she asked where had he shown since. The painter enumerated the places he had shown since then, including this very place here, but the shop owner, as if she had heard only a slight breeze asked the question again. This gave the painter the idea that he could bend the concept of utopia, no-place, to paintings he had already finished and shape some work to come as well and to serve as a basis for a statement he would have to write for his next show whether it existed or not.


the harp concert 21x21cm (sold)

the duel 55x89cm 

in the gallery of queen maria 34x21cm (sold)

minuet in ochre and sienna 21x21cm 

strolling players 21x34cm (sold)

revolutionary accordionist 21x34cm 

looking at water 21x13cm (sold)


into the woods 21x34cm (traded)
lighting by ray

ape cave 21x21cm (sold)
plato has a story about some republicans in a cave gazing at shadows. i am a little hazy on the details because i only had a flashlight.
the wine dark sea 21x13cm (sold)
one groups golden age is usually another's time of bondage and struggle but i still like the bowie song. 



the harps of heaven play the songs of string theory or not as the case may be 21x34cm (sold)
frames and museums are helpful by letting people know what is art and what is not.



the persistence of artifacts 34x21cm (sold)
cynthia has a few complaints about her visit to her monumental work. firstly, even though you can download into a body that looks like the one you had once long ago or like someone else had for that matter, you can't chose what your protective suit looks like. secondly, the cultural preservation robots think that their job is to play touch football, and not sweeping or artifact preservation. if you happen to be viewing this in the 21st century you can disregard cynthia's complaints and think of the image as a meditation on the desire of some artists to have their work serve in some way as a perpetuation of them selves.

6 comments:

  1. Wow! You've been busy my friend! These are uber strong... love the settings and subjects. Like paintings within paintings. I think someday, you'll be rich and famous... here's hoping it's while you're still alive to enjoy it!

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  2. Michael...such a vast departure from your earlier works while retaining your knowledge of, and sensitivity to color schemes that invoke interest & passion while deeply touching the soul. Well done my fellow artist...can't wait to see the collective in-person.

    J. Paul

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  3. well Paul, that is the sort of thing one likes to hear, well thought out praise though it doesn't feel like a a vast departure, more like a rubber band oscillating between opposite poles of artistic dogma. i can't remember if i am fighting for line or for color.

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